The Atlanta Hawks have just gone through the Suns dilemma
When the Atlanta Hawks traded back in the 2018 NBA draft to take Trae Young with the fifth pick, there were many people who asked why they would do this. These rumblings became even louder when Luka Doncic started to display the individual talent that he has.
However, as time has gone on the Hawks’ decision has been vindicated. Young has shown that he is one of the best players from that draft and his play has helped the Hawks go to the next level last season. As a result, Young was given the maximum contract extension that the Hawks could give him.
There have been several other players in his draft class who have also been given rookie-max deals. These are Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Michael Porter jr. However, the name which is significant in its absence is Deandre Ayton, who appears to be about to start out a drawn-out contract negotiation similar to that of John Collins.
The Atlanta Hawks made all the right moves for their future.
The Hawks made the right moves for their future with the signing of Young to his extension and also not allowing the Collins contract issue to cause any disruptions last season. In fact, the fact that they were able to get the deal done was in large part due to the way that they played last season.
The Hawks were able to keep a large part of their salary cap free thanks to the age of the team. Most of the core players are on their rookie-scale deals. The Hawks signed some veterans last season which took up some cap space but not enough to impact the future of the franchise.
It was also due to the veterans that the Hawks were able to improve from missing the playoffs entirely in the 2019-20 season to be only two games away from the NBA Finals the following year. This had to be a big reason for Collins to stay.
However, for the Phoenix Suns, they have already made the Finals and lost to the Milwaukee Bucks last season. Ayton was a big part of that run but in a league where shooting is the desired skill, Ayton’s game is too old-fashioned.
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He has no range on his shot and as a result, the Suns do not want to risk locking in a player on such a large deal which may become a millstone deal when Chris Paul leaves the team. At least Collins has such a well-rounded game that the Hawks can utilize his skillset if other issues befall the franchise.